[ Postscript: Since this article was written, local authorities have made arrests associated with this fire, which is now said to have been arson. The fire was the result of a supply of plastic pipe and associated materials that had been stored under the bridge for an extended period of time. While the plastic is not readily flammable, once started it becomes very volatile. Those arrested are facing charges of tresspass and arson. ]

[CLICK IMAGE for larger version map. Opens in new window ]
Diagram provided by University of Munich (Universität München)

Map of the Munich heavy rail network including S-Bahn (suburban) and U-Bahn ( urban / metro / subway) rail lines with the new second S.Bahn rail tunnel seen just to the north of and parallel to the existing S-Bahn trunk line and tunnel in the center of this not-to-scale diagram.

The case for adding a new S-Bahn tunnel to the existing one in Munich is clear. The current two-track S.Bahn tunnel which travels under a section of the inner city of Munich between Rosenheimer Platz and Hauptbahnhof, and on which most suburban trains are funneled, is already operating with headways between trains of about one train every two minutes in each direction. Even by standards for mass transit subway trains as seen on systems such as the New York Subway, Tokyo Subway, Hong Kong MRT, Paris Metro and similar urban mass transit lines in other major cities, this amount of train traffic is extreme with almost no margin for any delays and zero alternatives in case of a train break down or track signaling fault. Serious delays propagate quickly through the entire Munich suburban rail network like falling dominos, when just one train, one rail signal or one track switch fails to operate properly along the extremely heavily loaded S-Bahn tunnel.

The current Munich S-Bahn tunnel was completed in 1972 as part of the preparations for 1972 Summer Olympiad in Munich. After the opening around 220,000 passengers used the Munich S-Bahn suburban trains every day. But there are now around 840,000 daily passengers on the strained suburban services, the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper has reported.

For Munich mayor Dieter Reiter, it was clear that the time to act was now. The number of days when we hear disruption on the main line has become unbearable for me, Reiter told Bayerische Rundfunk (BR) public radio. Therefore the only correct decision to make was to say, we are building this tunnel now.

When it opens in 2026, the new S-Bahn tunnel will travel a very similar route to the existing one, except that it will be longer, passing under the city for 10 kilometers (6.3 miles) from Donnersbergerbrücke to Ostbahnhof. It will also only stop in three stations: one 41 meters (130 feet) below the Hauptbahnhof, a new station at Marienhof, and one 36 meters under Ostbahnhof. The Hauptbahnhof station is particularly controversial, as the plans entail pulling down the Starnberger Bahnhof section, which is a building listed as a protected landmark.

The project will pose considerable challenges to civil and mechanical engineers, according to the SZ, due to the depth at which much of the construction will take place. The sheer amount of earth that will need to be transported out will also place a huge strain on the citys road system. At the most intensive stage, a truck loaded with earth will drive through the inner city every ten minutes. Business owners are already complaining about the effect the project will have on business, as building sites at the new stations will be directly in the middle of three of the citys most busy shopping areas. For a description of the new rail tunnel project, please visit the D:F newsletter of 31st October 2016 (volume 16, number 44 at: http://www.nationalcorridors.org/df4/df10312016.shtml#Germany).

Rising Costs And Delays

Germany once prided itself on its ability to build relatively complex and expensive infrastructure projects such as its world famous Autoban expressway network (built over a number of decades similar to the USAs interstate highways), its still growing long distance high speed train network, and numerous local and regional rail networks in dozens of German cities (including the new S-Bahn urban  suburban rail networks in Munich as well as in Stuttgart and Frankfurt), while the USA simply added more and wider and more congested freeways in most of its cities as both Amtrak and various local transit authorities simply struggled to make ends meet on bare bones budgets.

However things seemed to change for some reason after the Millennium starting with the massive Berlin Hauptbahnhof and related north-south rail connector project in Berlin. The project began in the mid 1990s and was just barely finished in-time for the 2006 FIFA Football (soccer) World Cup hosted in Germany, but significantly over budget.

Photo: City of Munich

Train to Plane  The Munich S-Bahn train network reaches into outer suburban areas of the Munich region, including the Munich Airport, which is located about 30 km (18 miles northeast of the city center of Munich and just to the east of the historic town of Freising. The S-Bahn route to the airport was built concurrently with the construction of the airport itself, which first opened in mid 1992. An S.Bahn train consisting of two DB class 423 electric multiple unit (EMU) train sets approaches Besucherpark (visitor park) station at the Munich Airport perimeter in this undated photo circa year 2010. The rail line continues into the airport train station directly under the airport terminal complex via a short tunnel. The trip from central Munich and the S-Bahn train tunnel under the city center to the airport train station takes approximately 35 minutes each way.

Berlins snazzy new international airports opening has been delayed by more than six years and still counting, while projected costs have doubled to slightly over Euro 5 billion (approx. US $ 6 billion). The capital city has promised that the air hub will be open in spring 2018. But the recent sacking of the airports construction boss has again made international news for all the wrong reasons. Rumors persist, that the new and so-far never used terminal complex at the new Berlin-Brandenburg airport may even need to be partially demolished in order to remedy a number of serious design and construction flaws in the new buildings.

In a manner that certainly isnt unheard of in large infrastructure projects in Germany nowadays, costs of the second S-Bahn train tunnel in Munich are already way above original projections. In 2001, costs were calculated at Euro 1.4 billion, have now more than doubled to Euro 3.2 billion. With potential risks calculated in, that sum rises to Euro 3.84 billion - making it the most expensive infrastructure project ever undertaken in the German state of Bavaria.

Things are even worse over in Stuttgart. Stuttgart 21 (S21), the massive project to convert the central train station in downtown Stuttgart from a surface level train terminal to an underground through-station, is another example of a German infrastructure project that has been years in the planning with costs piling up. The S21 project is now projected to cost Euro 10 billion (initial projections were put it at Euro 2.5 billion about six years ago) and the opening has been delayed to 2021 from an original 2019 planned opening. The now Euro 10 billion budget includes a new high speed rail line to Ulm 60 km (40 miles) away and a new train station for intercity trains located at the Stuttgart Airport.

Back in Munich it is now 16 years since the city first gave the green light to construction on the second commuter rail tunnel. Forty legal complaints, not all of which have been resolved, were launched against the project, holding it up. Then the conservative Christian Socialists (CSU) political party appealed in 2008 for an over ground option to be considered. The proposed alternative was to direct the S-Bahn train traffic through an over ground ring rail route, much like Berlins Ringbahn, which encircles the city center. About eight years ago Munich and the state of Bavaria threw in the towel after cost estimates for a maglev train line from the city center to the airport nearly doubled in less than a year to Euro 3.3 billion. Construction never started on the Munich maglev line, but well over Euro 50 million of taxpayer money was spent on endlessly studying the project without even one shovel of dirt having been dug for the now-cancelled prestige project.

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